


when you were young

by mylovelyone



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22195072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylovelyone/pseuds/mylovelyone
Summary: years after high school, ex-lovers eddie kaspbrak and richie tozier are reunited at a concert. not just any concert, richie's concert.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 33





	when you were young

**Author's Note:**

> hi :) this is my first work like ever so please be kind. i was planning on this just being a short story but depending on the response i get from this, i may or may not write more. also, the song that richie "wrote" for eddie is called "Eddie Baby" and it's by Felix Hagan & the Family :)

Eddie had never been one to go to concerts since he graduated from Derry High. They were sweaty and messy and he just didn’t want to deal with the chance that people could be sick. It would take a lot of convincing for him to go.

“Eddie, please come with us! It’ll be so fun!” Beverly begged him, pulling on his arm.

“Bev, for the last time, I’m not going!” Eddie yelled, yanking his arm away.

“But it’s Richie,” she emphasized, knowing that the name would spark something inside him. “We haven’t seen him since high school and he was nice enough to hook us up with some tickets,” she smiled.

Something inside of Eddie was telling him to go. To go see his first love perform live, the first time since they broke up at the end of their senior year. 

Since high school, Richie had become a major rock star. He was selling out venues and his albums were skyrocketing on the charts. Eddie had always been aware of his music and even listened to it from time to time, but he never let himself fall too deep into the music. 

Eddie stood in front of Bev and the rest of the losers with his arms crossed, contemplating.

“Come on dude, it’ll be fun. You’re thinking too much about what might happen,” Bill said.

He was right. The chances of Richie even seeing him in the crowd were slim, and Eddie really did enjoy his music so he might as well go, right?

Eddie tapped his foot quickly and shut his eyes. “Fine,” he spoke quickly.

Bev squealed with joy and the rest of the losers sighed with relief.

“But if I have a fucking asthma attack or get some kind of disease, it's your fucking fault,” he spoke, pointing at each one of them. They all chuckled.

“Well let’s go then!” Stanley said. “We’re gonna be late if we don't get a move on!”

Eddie looked at his watch. It was 6:23 and the concert started at 8. The venue was about an hour from Derry and with parking and security and everything, it was going to take them an extra half hour just to get into the place. 

“He’s right, let’s go,” Ben spoke, probably thinking the same thing as Eddie. They all gathered their things and headed toward Mike’s car. He had a huge suburban type car, so they didn’t have to take separate cars. It was Mike and Ben up front, Bill and Stan behind them, and then Bev and Eddie in the very back. They all settled into their seats and Mike began driving. 

Eddie was visibly nervous. He was shaking and breathing sporadically. He reached a trembling hand for his inhaler and took a quick puff, the mist immediately relieving his lungs. Bev noticed his nerves and reached a hand over, grasping it gently. 

“It’s going to be okay,” she whispered to him, “I bet he won’t even see you in the audience. Just sit back and enjoy the music.”

He nodded at her and closed his eyes and slowly drifted off, dreaming of the teenage boy he had fallen in love with years ago.

~

“This last song is for someone very close to me,” Richie’s voice boomed through the school gym. “I love you, Eddie Spaghetti,” he said. Eddie could almost hear his smile through the mic. Richie’s band was playing for their senior prom because they were too cheap to hire a DJ.

Richie began playing their song, “When You Were Young” by the Killers. That first guitar chord always gave Eddie goosebumps. 

The lyrics fit their relationship perfectly and Eddie loved it. He jumped out of his seat and began dancing around crazily. He wasn’t usually one to let himself go like this, but seeing his boyfriend perform brought out a different side of him, a wild side. 

“You sit there in your heartache waiting on some beautiful boy to, to save you from your old ways. You play forgiveness, watch it now, here he comes!” Richie sang into the mic, eyeing his boyfriend directly in front of the stage. Eddie stared directly back at him, screaming the lyrics back at him.

Eddie’s enthusiasm encouraged the rest of the audience to do the same, lose themselves in the music.

“He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young,” Richie’s voice was like velvet as it echoed through the gym, and Eddie couldn’t get enough of it. The way Richie’s eyes closed while he played his guitar was so unbelievably hot to Eddie, and his gaze never shifted from the sweaty, curly headed boy that was standing up on the stage in front of him. 

They played the song out and Eddie clapped and cheered the loudest when it was over. Richie thanked the crowd and placed his guitar down on the stand. He hopped down from the stage as “Yellow” by Coldplay began over the cheap speakers the school had rented. Eddie practically tackled Richie as he approached, throwing his arms over the tall boy’s shoulders.

“Woah there, Eds, don’t kill me before I’ve had the chance to kiss you,” Richie spoke sweetly, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s small frame. Eddie pulled back from the embrace and planted a kiss on Richie’s lips. He tasted of peach vodka. Eddie pulled away, a little startled.

“Rich, why do you taste like alcohol?” Eddie questioned him, looking him dead in the eyes.

“Why do you think I had so much energy up there?” Richie replied. “I may be a liiiitle buzzed,” he spoke, holding up his fingers next to his face.

“You’re such a dipshit,” Eddie chuckled and kissed him again. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Richie replied after the kiss, “you love me.”

Richie placed his arms on Eddie’s hips and Eddie placed his head against Richie’s chest. They swayed as the music played out. 

“And it was all yellow…”

***

“Rich, I just don’t see why we can’t make this work!” Eddie yelled, tears already streaming down his face.

“Eddie! We’re both leaving! We’re going to college, we’re not kids anymore!” Richie yelled back. “Long distance never works anyway.”

This was their fifth fight of the week and it was only Tuesday. They had graduated two weeks prior and had been spending every waking moment with each other. Eddie knew this moment was coming, but he didn’t expect it to be so soon.

“But we can try, can’t we?” Eddie cried. He was desperate to keep the love that was once present between them.

“Eddie, I can’t keep trying with you,” Richie ran his hands down his face, tears beginning to well up in his brown eyes. “Can’t you tell? We’ve fallen out of love, Eds. It’s not like it used to be,” he spoke while sitting down on his bed.

“No, Richie, you’ve fallen out of love. My love has always been here. What’s the real reason you’re breaking up with me?” Eddie questioned.

Richie sighed, placing his head in his hands.

“I’m bored, Eddie. It’s always the same old shit and I need some excitement in my life, okay?” Richie blurted out.

Eddie was taken aback. “Why didn’t you just tell me, Rich?” he choked out, sitting down beside Richie on the bed. He placed his hand on Richie’s shoulder. Richie shrugged it off and stood up.

“I didn’t want to hurt your feelings,” Richie spoke quietly.

“Well that’s funny, because you’re breaking my heart right now,” Eddie retorted.

“I think you should leave, Eddie,” Richie said. He walked over to the door and opened it, avoiding eye contact.

Eddie stood up. “So it’s over? Just like that?” he sniffled. Richie kept his gaze focused on the floor and stayed silent.

“Fine,” Eddie said, walking towards the door. “Goodbye, Richie.”

Richie shut the door and Eddie stood outside it for a moment, unable to process the events that unfolded in front of him. Silent sobs wrecked through his body and he ran out the front door of the Tozier household. That was the last time they had spoken to each other.

~

Eddie woke up with a jolt, and he was breathing heavily. He wiped his hand across his forehead, which was dripping with sweat.

“Eds? You okay?” Bev asked him, concern scattered across her face.

He nodded quickly, but stayed silent.

“Okay. Also, we're here,” she smiled at him.

Eddie looked out the window and sure enough, he was staring directly at a huge banner that read “Richie Tozier: Trashmouth World Tour.” He ditched his thick rimmed glasses and traded for contacts, but his curls were still as glorious as ever. His gaze was fixed on the poster for a while until he realized that everyone had exited the car. He scrambled to make sure his things were all together and then joined the rest of his friends outside the car.

Bev once again noticed his nerves and grabbed Eddie’s hand as they made their way towards the venue. It was summer, so the air wasn’t cold, but Eddie was visibly shaking as they got closer to the entrance. 

They went through security and Beverly went to check everyone in with the man that Richie had instructed them to go to. The man introduced himself as Todd and promptly pulled out a list. His index finger flew down the list and stopped towards the bottom. 

“Ah yes,” Todd said. “He calls you guys ‘The Losers’?” he asked, genuinely confused.

The group chuckled.

“Yeah, we were all best friends back in high school,” Mike explained. 

“I see,” Todd replied. “Here, follow me.”

Todd began to walk down a flight of stairs and the group followed. He led them to a private box just to the left of the stage. 

“Richie has left you guys some snacks and beverages, and a note for you all to read,” Todd said, letting us into the room. “If you need anything at any time, just hit this button and someone will be with you in a few minutes.”

They all thanked Todd and looked around the room. Eddie walked to the sliding glass window and opened it. He walked out onto the balcony and stared straight at the stage. His eyes drifted towards the guitar stand. Richie was using the same guitar that he had in high school. Eddie knew it well. He had gotten Richie most of the stickers that were still present on it. He spotted the pride flag that had “Love Wins” written across it, placed directly under the strings of the electric guitar. His eyes scanned the rest of the black and white guitar and his heart fell. The one sticker he was looking for seemed to have been scratched off.

“Ah shit!” Bev yelled suddenly.

“What? What’s wrong?” Stanley asked, rushing over to her.

“We should’ve asked Todd to take a group picture of us,” she pouted.

“Really? That’s what you were worried about?” Bill chuckled.

“Yes! This is the first time any of us are seeing Richie since high school and I wanted to document it,” she said, a frown still evident on her face.

“Here, give me the phone,” Eddie said, reaching for the phone in Bev’s hand. “I’ll take it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Edward,” she retracted her hand. “You’re going to be in the fucking picture.”

“Shit, she used ‘Edward.’ Eddie you better be in the damn picture,” Ben chuckled.

Bev walked over to the door and slammed her hand on the button. Within seconds, there was a staff member at the door.

“Hi! Could you possibly take a picture of us?” Bev asked with the widest smile on her face. 

The staff member nodded and Bev handed her phone to her. They all followed Bev out onto the balcony and arranged themselves accordingly. The staff member snapped the photo and they all thanked her. Beverly took her phone back and sent everyone the picture. 

“Oh guys, let’s read the note Richie left for us!” Mike remembered. He ran inside, grabbed the note, and brought it back out onto the balcony. He read it out loud.

Dear Losers,

Holy shit I can’t believe you all came! It really means a lot to me that you would come out and support me. I’ve missed having you guys around, it’s a little lonely on tour, I have to admit. Also, I fucking told you guys I would end up rich as fuck one day. It’s been too long since we’ve caught up, so after the show, Todd will come back to your box and he’ll take you guys backstage. I can’t wait to see you all.

Love,  
Trashmouth :)

They all got mushy at how sweet Richie truly was under all that sarcasm and Eddie couldn’t help but reminisce on all the good times they shared as teenagers. 

Once again, he looked out into the venue and into the crowd. Thousands of teenage girls were in their seats, ready to hear his ex-boyfriend perform live. The venue was buzzing with excitement as it got closer to 8. When the time finally came, the Losers were also buzzing, just as all those teenage girls were. The lights went dark and the stadium erupted with high pitched screams. Eddie plugged his ears at first but he eventually got used to it.

When the lights came back up, Richie was stood on the stage, his guitar in hand. He smiled mischievously at the crowd and began the first song. Eddie sang along and swayed in place.

“I didn’t know you listened to his music!” Bev yelled over all the noise.

“Yeah well, I listen to the radio a lot,” Eddie lied. He always has Richie’s music playing. He loved it.

Just as he did back in high school, Eddie stared at the curly headed boy playing the guitar in front of him.

Richie and his band finished playing the first song and the audience roared. 

“What the fuck is up Maine?!” Richie screamed into the mic. The audience screamed back at him.

“Y’know, I grew up here about an hour away, so it feels good to be home. My best friends from high school are here tonight, so make them feel welcome,” he said, pointing fingers at the crowd. Richie turned his head to face the booth that his friends were sitting in. He gave them a little salute and a wink and focused his attention back on the crowd. Eddie’s heart fluttered a little bit.

~

Richie played countless amounts of music, and Eddie was loving it. He eventually got past the part about it being his ex-boyfriend and just let himself get lost in the music. The entire group was just letting themselves go and were all screaming the words. 

“Alright, fuckers! I have two more songs for you!” Richie yelled into the mic. The audience booed. 

“Relax, I’ve been playing for you guys all night. Be fucking grateful. This next song was one of my favorites back in high school, I wanted to play it now that I was back in my home state.”

Richie played the opening to “When You Were Young” by the Killers, and Eddie’s eyes widened. He hadn’t listened to this song in years, and for good reason. Beverly noticed his state and grabbed his hand. She squeezed it periodically as the song went on. Richie kept glancing up at the box they were sitting in, hoping to catch someone’s eye. Eddie swayed slightly, but didn’t fully lose himself in the music. 

When the song ended, the crowd roared once again. Richie wiped his sweat covered forehead with a towel and took a quick swig of water before approaching the mic again.

“Maine, you’ve been fucking fantastic, but unfortunately our time together has come to an end. But boy, do I have a treat for you!” he yelled.

“This is a new song I wrote for someone I lost in my past. It was stupid of me to quit so easily but I was dumb. I was 17, I didn’t know what I wanted so I took the easy way out,” he spoke, looking up at the box. His eyes fell onto Eddie and he froze, unable to comprehend the words that were coming out of Richie’s mouth.

‘I have to be dreaming, this isn’t real,’ Eddie thought, shutting his eyes. ‘If I open my eyes, I’ll be back at home, snuggled under the blankets with a cup of coffee.’

He forced his eyes open, but the scene was still unfolding before him. He scrambled for his inhaler and took a puff, his eyes not leaving Richie’s gaze.

“Consider this an apology, Spaghetti,” he winked.

The keyboard player played the intro and Richie joined in on his guitar. Eddie was frozen in place as he sang.

“The cameras captured all of the glances  
And all of the chances we missed  
We raged and we spun for all of the dancers  
The song as it lasted was bliss  
But now the years have eaten  
The songs we believed in  
And nothing is left but the sound  
Of six billion people ignoring the magic we found

Oh, but I hear your voice. It calls me like the night  
It's singing in each syllable I write

Oh Eddie, baby, won't you come to my arms tonight?  
I beg and plead you, please succumb to my charms tonight  
I give my heart  
But you take it and you break it and you tear it apart  
Oh Eddie, baby, won't you come to my arms?”

Eddie placed his hand over his mouth as Richie sang. He couldn’t believe that his ex-boyfriend wrote this for him. Does that mean Richie was thinking about him too? Richie stepped back from the mic for a second and turned his head towards the box. He was close enough that he could make eye contact with Eddie. And he did. He winked and stepped back up to the mic.

“When hormones were raging  
Whilst sweetly teenaging, we cackled at thoughts of decline  
And every chord that the people  
Ignored is preserved in my mind for all time  
And while the years have clawed at us and tears  
Have gnawed at us, the song in my head still resounds  
And I hope that one day, dear friend, you will come around

Oh Eddie, baby, won't you come to my arms tonight?  
I beg and plead you, please succumb to my charms tonight  
I give my heart  
But you take it and you break it and you tear it apart  
Oh Eddie, baby, won't you come to my arms?”

Once again, Richie stepped back from the mic and shredded on his guitar. His curly hair stuck to the sweat that had formed on his forehead and Eddie couldn’t take his eyes away. All he saw was his first love singing a song that he wrote about their relationship. He teared up but never tore his gaze away from the brown eyed boy.

“So scream and shout. We're burning out like everyone  
So face the crowd  
Rage at thunderclouds. Just jump into the fire and run.”

The last chorus of the song was quieter and sweeter, and it made Eddie’s heart flutter with a thousand tiny butterflies. Beverly grabbed his hand and placed her other one over her heart, her eyes also full of tears. The rest of the Losers stood behind them, stunned.

Richie turned his head back towards the box and made eye contact with Eddie once again. 

“Oh Eddie, baby, won't you come to my arms tonight?  
I beg and plead you, please succumb to my charms tonight  
I give my heart  
But you take it and you break it and you tear it apart  
Oh Eddie, baby. Oh Eddie, baby.  
Oh Eddie, baby, won't you come to my arms?”

Richie played the song out and stepped back from the mic and kept his eyes fixed on Eddie. Tears were streaming down Eddie’s face at this point, and Richie blew a kiss at his teary-eyed ex-boyfriend. The crowd roared at the gesture and were very curious to know just who the person in the box was. Eddie looked down and was met with thousands of cell phone flashes, all of them trying to get a glimpse of Richie’s mystery man. Beverly dragged him back into the box and quickly shut the door. 

“Goodnight Maine!” they heard Richie yell through the door.

Eddie backed up, still stunned, and fell back onto the couch. The rest of the Losers gathered around him.

“What the fuck just happened?” Stan asked, just as shocked as the rest of them.

“I-I don't know,” Eddie stammered.

“Have you guys been talking?” Bill asked him, sitting next to him on the couch.

Eddie shook his head no. “We haven’t spoken since...that day.”

“Holy shit, so then how long has he been thinking about this?” Stan asked.

“A while,” Bev answered. They all shot their heads over to look at her.

“What?” Eddie asked. “You knew about this?”

Bev nodded. “That’s why I was so adamant about you coming tonight! I got back in touch with him a couple months ago and we’ve been talking back and forth. He told me that he never really stopped thinking about you, and that he wrote this song,” she continued.

“Oh my God,” Eddie whispered. “I have to go see him.”

Bev squealed with excitement. Mike ran over to push the button, and Todd was in the room in a matter of seconds.

“We need to go see Richie. Now,” Bev said to him, clapping excitedly.

“Will do,” Todd said. “Follow me.”

He led the group backstage through a private tunnel where no fans would see them. Eddie admired everything around him because he wasn’t able to focus on one thing. The only thing swirling around in his mind was Richie.

“Here we are,” Todd said while opening the door to Richie’s dressing room. They filed into the room and admired everything.

“Rich’ll be here in like 2 minutes,” Todd smiled. They thanked him and he left the room.

Eddie sat down on the velvet couch and attempted to steady his breathing. Bev sat down next to him and rubbed small circles into the palm of his hand. 

The two minutes passed very quickly, and Eddie was startled when the door flung open and revealed his ex-lover.

“WADDUP FUCKERS?!” Richie screamed as he entered.

The Losers screamed in excitement and crowded around them. All except for Eddie, who stayed seated on the couch. They all talked over each other, trying to speak to Richie.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Richie yelled. “One at a time! There’s enough Trashmouth to go around.”

Bev began by tackling him in a hug.

“It’s so good to see you, Richie!” she squealed excitedly.

“Good to see you too, Bev,” Richie smiled, wrapping his arms around the red headed girl.

Eddie tried to avoid eye contact with Richie, fearful of the conversation they were about to have.

They all took turns talking to him, catching up on what had been going on in their lives.

“Guys, I’m so sorry I didn’t keep in touch. Everything just got so busy in the middle of freshman year of college,” Richie apologized.

They all chimed in with various versions of “No, it’s okay!” and “Don’t worry about it.”

Richie shifted his gaze to the brown haired boy that was sitting on the couch, alone.

“Could you guys give us a minute?” Richie asked politely.

“Of course,” Bev smiled as she led the group out of the room.

The door shut, and Richie turned to face Eddie, but kept his distance.

“Hi,” he said, running his hand through his curly hair.

“Hey,” Eddie said quickly, his heart beating out of his chest.

“How are you?” Richie asked, looking down at his feet.

“Good. You?” Eddie played with his fingers.

“Good…” Richie replied, trailing off.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, and it was deafening. Eddie felt like he was drowning in it.

“Look, Eddie, I don’t want this to be awkward, okay?” Richie broke the silence.

“Okay, so speak,” Eddie replied sassily.

“I’m sorry, okay? For everything,” Richie spoke sincerely. “For breaking your heart, for not texting you, and for springing this on you suddenly. I understand if you still hate me, but I just needed to get it out there, how I feel. Y’know?” he said quickly.

“I’m not mad at you, Rich,” Eddie chuckled. “I’m just confused.”

“About?”

“Well, Bev said that you had been thinking about this for a while, so why didn’t you just tell me? You could have sent me a text, left a voicemail?” Eddie asked, looking directly into his brown eyes.

“I don't know. I guess I was just scared,” Richie replied, breaking their gaze. 

“Of what, Richie? You broke up with me, remember? I never stopped loving you,” Eddie raised his voice slightly, tears welling up in his eyes.

“I realized that I didn’t either soon after we broke up, but it was too late. I was afraid you would never forgive me.”

They both looked down at their hands.

“Look, I want to be completely honest with you, Eds. I’ve been with other people since, y’know, us,” Richie said. “But I’ve always wished it was you. You have always been the one that I wanted,” Richie said while he moved to the couch. He sat down next to the smaller boy. 

Eddie smiled. “Me too.”

Richie reached down and placed a finger under Eddie’s chin, pulling it up so that their eyes would meet.

“I’m so sorry, Eddie.”

Eddie’s eyes flicked between Richie’s eyes, then his lips. Without any warning, he pushed forward and placed their lips together. Richie was startled at first, but settled into it, placing his hand against Eddie’s cheek.

It was a soft and passionate kiss, almost as if they were making up for the love that had been misplaced. They pulled away after a few seconds.

“So I take it you liked the song?” Richie asked, eyebrows raised.

Eddie nodded and licked his lips.

“Peach vodka,” he smiled.

“I’ve still got it, baby,” Richie winked at him. “But this time, it’s legal.”

“Barely,” Eddie teased.

“Shut up, dipshit,” Richie chuckled and placed their lips together once again.

“Fucking finally.”

The boys were interrupted by Stanley and the rest of the Losers. Bev was jumping up and down excitedly.

“I thought I was going to have to stage some kind of fucking intervention to get you two back together or something,” Stanley added.

Richie flipped him off and went placed one more kiss against Eddie’s temple. Eddie grabbed Richie’s hand and held it tight. Richie looked into Eddie’s eyes.

“Just like when we were young.”


End file.
